Oaklee || One Day Old

The weirdest + coolest thing happened to me two days ago (okay, two weeks ago now that I’m making this blog post today). I FINALLY had the opportunity to do a “Fresh 48” shoot. If you’re not familiar with what this is, it’s when a photographer goes to the hospital after a mama gives birth to photograph the first few hours together. They’re different than your typical newborn shoot with the whole “baby in a basket on a bed of flowers and tiny crotched hat”. Don’t get me wrong, I can totally appreciate those photos, they can be absolutely beautiful but they never really screamed “ME”. Heading to the hospital to document the raw emotions + moments - how your hands shake a bit while changing their clothes, Grandma’s (and luckily enough in this case Great Grandma/pa’s) proud smile, the feeling of exhaustion, joy and relief all intertwined together, their wrinkly, crusty toes - seemed more like “my style”.

So why haven’t I done a shoot like this before? If I’m being completely honest with myself, I kind of half-ass-ishly would offer this session by posting on social media every once in a while. I had a few people tell me they were interested, but it never worked out due to canceling last minute, me being out of the country, them choosing a different photographer, etc. I was usually pretty bummed when it didn’t work out, but then again, I wasn’t really putting myself ALL the way out there because, well, the rejection scared the hell out of me. I realize now, that I just wasn’t ready. And then this day happened. Here’s a little bit of the nearly 5 paragraph long text that I sent my amazing friend, travel partner, Spanish studying amiga, photography mentor, giggle buddy, hero, and bottle-of-vino-tinto-sharer, Aminda.

“I don’t know if it was the new lens, all of the studying that I did in Nicaragua, the knowledge and energy that I gained from you or what, but when I started editing those photos, man - something clicked. I actually felt like a Photographer for the first time. Like really for the first time. Like I can finally say ‘Soy fotografa’ and be confident about it… That probably sounds so silly, but I needed that shift.” It was the first time in a long time that I was actually proud of myself. Which for me, is life-changing.

Here are a few of my favorites from that day. I was realllllly feeling the black and white. Imagine that…😂

Gwen || Senior Photos

I can’t believe this little one is almost 18…

Or that it has somehow already been seven years of spending almost every holiday, birthday, random Sunday together. Thank you for always making me feel like part of the family and welcoming me in with open arms, even when I beat you at Hand and Foot or you have to carry the team on your own when people can see right through me during the first round of Mafia and for being nicer to me than your actual sister sometimes... ;) The future has so many big, exciting things in store for you.

Love love love you!

Amanda || Chillin' in Her Super Cute St. Paul Apartment

It’s officially that time in Minnesota. With 6-12 inches in tonight’s forecast, winter is here. As much as I enjoy winter and the snow during the holidays, come January I’m usually over it… However, as I strive to focus on the silver lining, seeing the bright side of every situation, I AM happy to say that this season in MN means in-home sessions. I love coming to your home and photographing you curled up in fuzzy blankets, drinking wine and eating your favorite Thai takeout, cuddling in the kitchen, etc.

Here are a few shots of Amanda and some of her plant babies at her place. She let me come over and hang out for a bit while I played around with my new lens that I am currently loving!

Andrew & Ashley || Minneapolis Maternity Shoot

Had some fun with these two about a month ago! Maybe it’s because she’s my cousin, maybe it’s all the love that I have for these two, but the second that she put on that black dress, I was absolutely stunned. I think I stood there for about 20 seconds with my mouth open, looking like an idiot. I’m now convinced that everyone should wear a black dress during their session ;) Here are just a few of my favorites from that beautiful Fall day!

Jena & Tim || Granada, Nicaragua - De Boca En Boca

If you didn’t know, I’m currently traveling in Nicaragua. It all started in a grungy, dive bar in NE Minneapolis.

After our fair share of bottomless mimosas, (Ebenezer at Red Rabbit hooked it up and helped us find the bottom) una Reina IPA at La Doña Cervecería, a basket of tots and some reggaeton on TouchTunes at NE Moose Bar, Aminda and I were, somewhat coherently ;), talking about how we wanted to make our dreams of traveling and photographing happen. We started kind of jokingly, kind of seriously giggling about what would happen if we got an uber to the airport right then and there and somehow woke up in the morning in the middle of Central America. And that was that. We pinky promised that we would soon be photographing while practicing Spanish somewhere down south. So, long story short, we’ve been in Nicaragua for almost two weeks now and are LOVING IT.

A few of days ago we met a couple at our hostel, De Boca en Boca which is located in an incredible little city called Granada. The two of them were sitting on the couch in the common area and I actually texted Aminda and said, “Can we just take a sec to recognize how beautiful this couple is?” A few hours later they joined us for a glass of wine and we hit it off immediately.

Jena is from Canada and Tim is from New Zealand. They met on Bumble and were actually living only three blocks from each other at the time. Small freaking world, right? They recently made the decision to leave Canada and move to New Zealand, but decided to travel around Central America first. We chatted about the time they spent in Mexico and Guatemala, all of the highs - they spent time on Lake Atitlán, where I spent most of 2017 - and all of the lows, like the extremely distinct taste of a “sulfur burp” which you know all too well if you’ve had a parasite. They were open and honest and even shared a recent, rather traumatic story with us. All was going great until they got to Ometepe, an island on Lake Nicaragua that is home to two volcanoes. They were in their hotel room, hard boiling eggs when Tim went to light the other stove and there was an explosion. There was a gas leak and when he went to ignite the other flame the stove exploded, blowing the tiles off of the counter and leaving Tim with second degree burns which he needs to keep bandaged. As to not divulge too much about their painful experience, I’ll wrap it up with how impressed I am with their attitudes and positivity. This couple is absolutely lovely and I am so happy that Aminda and I were able to give them a little souvenir of their time in Nicaragua, that hopefully brings them warmth and happiness.

The Miller's || Color Fun

I may be biased because we’re related, but this is for sure my favorite family to shoot… ;) We started out with a few, classic, posed shots to get “A Nice Photo for Grandma”, and then had some fun!

Parker || Cake Smash

Look at those eyes, AND THOSE CHEEKS! I’d like to pretend that the reason he’s so smiley in these photos is because kids love me, but if I’m being totally honest, it was probably the sugar… ;)

Kelsey & Pamir || Wedding (Shadowing Aminda Villa)

This day was an absolute DREAM! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to shadow my all-time favorite photographer, Aminda Villa! As you can see in some of the photos (I kept her in some of them), I was standing mostly behind or to the side of Aminda, watching her do her thing, learning, and soaking up her creative energy. And holy crap, does she do it incredibly! She was so great with the bride and groom, Kelsey & Pamir (who were absolute freaking gems, and can we just talk about how extremely photogenic they both are?!!). I could go on and on about how welcoming, amazing, loving, & bad-ass this entire day was… buttttttt, instead, check out some of the shots that I got while “second shooting”. :)

02.22.2019 || The Miller Boys

You don’t have to get all dressed up, stress about posing, matching outfits, or be all smiles during your photo session. Although that can be fun, yes, I really enjoy capturing candids. There are so many different emotions in this quick set that I did of my nephews! I’m so in LOVE!